


Sparks

by flight_feather



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Consensual Kink, F/M, Ice Play, Light Bondage, Masturbation, Mild Kink, Sex, Teasing, Vaginal Sex, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-06-01 13:49:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15144440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight_feather/pseuds/flight_feather
Summary: Collection of ME:A gameverse one-shots for the Summer Smutfest.For London-based AU smut, seeLittle Deaths.





	1. Hot and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill: the air conditioning is broken for Laz & Reyes, either universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written gameverse stuff in awhile and am playing Kadara in the game, so I switched back from the AU for this one :).

When Ryder had arrived on Kadara to find the power out, she'd expected to spend this visit sweating. With the air conditioning broken the spring heat and humidity crept in, worsening every time someone opened a door to outside, seeping under cracks and through gaps in the prefabricated walls.

She should have known the Charlatan wouldn't let his woman suffer needlessly - unless it was by his hand.

“Reyes, please…” she begged, trailing off with a hiss as he dragged the chip of ice over her clit. Her involuntary arch allowed him to slip it inside her and she whimpered. Cold tendrils contrasted with the heat in her core, a different kind of wetness dripping out of her as she writhed. 

Her lover ignored her and chipped another piece off the rapidly-melting block he'd requisitioned. Only the Charlatan could afford to waste imported ice on something like this and he was taking full advantage of it. He had Ryder bound spread-eagle on the floor of his private room at Tartarus; the combination of vulnerability and ice was driving her mad. 

Usually he'd taunt her when they played like this. Today, he focused all his attention on playing her like an instrument. Ice, fingers, tongue, even a quick, faint brush with the cool edge of the knife he was using to chip ice made her sing the special song that was all his.

Cold on one nipple and the warmth of his mouth suckling the other made Ryder gasp and squirm; switching them made her cry out. A smile played at the edges of the Charlatan’s mouth, the only reaction from him other than the erection she could feel when he pressed close. 

Power was one of his preferred aphrodisiacs. Having the Pathfinder bare and open to him while he put a precious commodity to frivolous use simply because he could had him rock hard.

 _He can’t last much longer, surely_ , Ryder thought, her climax rising. “Please, Reyes!” 

“What do you want?” 

It was the first response he’d given her. “Fuck me, please, I’m almost there. I need you inside me. Please -” 

The Charlatan’s smile was always frightening because it preceded unexpected action. He rolled away from her, using his body to block her view of the last chunk of ice. 

“What are you doing?” she asked. The scraping noises were odd. 

A dildo made of ice was not what she’d been expecting. “You said it was too hot without aircon,” he pointed out, dragging it down her front. “This should cool you down." 

A cold trail of water pooled in its wake, puddling in her navel. “Fuck,” Ryder whimpered.

“You asked for it.” 

It didn’t last long, but the Charlatan got the crescendo he was after. First at the frigid penetration, then when he finally got his cock out and fucked her. “Refreshing,” he said, breath tickling her ear as he nipped at her neck. 

Ryder bucked in her restraints. After all the cold, the heat of his body was such a shock she thought her amp port had short-circuited. She lost herself in the way he moved against her, the sparks of sensation in every nerve ending. 

Her orgasm took her by surprise. After being on the edge, then frozen out, then drawn back again for however long the Charlatan had been toying with her, the wave of pleasure triggered a minor biotic flare. It tingled where their bodies touched, sending a second orgasm rolling right after the first.

“What -” 

The Charlatan didn’t finish his sentence before his cock drove in deep and his lips pulled at the flesh of her shoulder. Ryder started laughing and couldn’t stop; it took a great deal to make him lose control of himself like that. She was still shaking with amusement and aftershocks when he untied her and pulled her into his lap for a lingering kiss.

“I’ll have to figure out how we got there,” he murmured when he freed her. “Seeing actual sparks...that’s a new one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say...glass dildo + freezer


	2. To the Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill: To the music, Laz/Reyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after [Pocket Aces](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553570).

Melody trips through Ryder as she enters the Vortex on Reyes’ arm, sending a thrill through her. He’s not supposed to be here; exiles were banished permanently, on pain of death. But it’s not his first return to the Nexus. Even if it was, nobody tells the Charlatan where to go and nobody tells the Pathfinder what to do, especially now that they’re married. Tann can suck a fat one as far as Ryder is concerned. 

The room quietens, a shocked hush as the Pathfinder smiles up at her exile. The music plays on and the chairs and tables have been cleared from the centre of the room. That’s all that matters. 

They start properly, poised for a waltz despite the sultry kick of club beats. The Charlatan leads; he always does, and the Pathfinder is more than happy to follow here. Out of armour, he’s the skilled one, his grace and quiet menace a subtle contrast to her blunt danger and flashy biotics.

Whiskey burns in her veins. It takes a lot to touch her, even with SAM directed not to manage her blood alcohol content, but she started when they left Kadara. After everything that’s happened she needs this escape into chemical distance and her lover’s arms, the siren call of music and the rhythmic press of his body against hers.

Reyes doesn’t disappoint. He knows her at least as well as the AI in her head, knows which buttons to push. She’s safe with him, able to fly across the floor, free despite the eyes on them. 

He draws her to him at a crescendo in the music, hands gripping at ass and neck the only thing keeping her balanced. The song fades. Another begins. Ryder pulls away to pay him homage with the movement of her body, winding her hips and chest in slow circles as she dips, dragging her nails down his abs. 

“Where can we fuck?” he growls when she’s standing again. 

“My quarters...when you’ve earned it,” she teases. 

Nobody teases the Charlatan. He maneuvers her off the floor and presses her against the wall. It probably looks romantic, but she can feel the tension in him. “Now,” he says before pressing his lips to hers in rough command. 

That word and the urgency behind it is almost enough for Ryder to offer herself right here. On Kadara she might go through with it, but not here. Instead, she takes his hand and drags him in her wake. Murmurs rise behind them, growing to a roar. She doesn’t care. 

“SAM, play the sex playlist. Vanguard profile,” Ryder says as the door to her quarters slides shut behind them. Slow, heavy beats spill from the room’s speakers and power floods her muscles. She whirls, pushing the Charlatan against it. He grunts, fights her, can’t lift his wrists from under her strength-enhanced grip.

“You’ll regret this, Pathfinder.” 

“Only if you make me,” she says sweetly.

She’s forgotten who she’s dealing with. 

His foot slides her ankles together. A well-aimed knee pushes her off-balance and they crash backward. Breath flies from Ryder as she hits the floor. She’s left gasping as the Charlatan takes advantage of her incapacitation to roll her to her belly.

“Be still,” he warns. There’s a tug, then the smooth skim of a knife parting her clothes from her back, ass, and thighs. 

“Motherfucker!”

He chuckles. “Good thing you left your jacket in the shuttle.” 

Hot kisses wash away her annoyance as the music wraps them in its embrace. She moves against him without meaning to, her body inviting his into her. She always wants him, especially when the music spurs her on. Clever fingers peel away her clothes, unfasten his. 

The thick, blunt head of his cock slips between her legs. “Hmm. Have you earned it?” he taunts, throwing her earlier words back at her.

Ryder lets her body speak for her, moving with the beat until he growls and takes her. Each thrust grinds her hipbones into the metal floor. Each beat of the music makes her push back into him, welcome him deeper. 

“You’re mine, Pathfinder,” he says, and Ryder rides the euphoria of the music to completion as he bites her. With a few more thrusts, the Charlatan comes undone as well.

They lie on the floor together, entwined limbs and tangled shreds of clothing joining them as much as the sticky residue keeping Reyes’ cock between Ryder’s thighs. 

“I needed that,” she says, curling into him.

“You have the music in your heart. I just move with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't take credit for the last line. An old Frenchman from Perpignan said the first half to me in Mauritius 5 years ago.
> 
> Reyes' first return to the Nexus: [Return to the Nexus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249622/chapters/26371209)
> 
> Music for this chapter: [Crying in the Club - Camila Cabello](https://youtu.be/NlrYn_dZdqk?t=1m43s)


	3. Helloooo, Nurse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill, "Helloooo, Nurse" for Reyes and Ryder

Ryder scowled at Lexi and crossed her arms as much as she could in her hardsuit. “No, I’m not staying in bed and you can’t make me.” 

“But I can.” 

Transferring her glare to Reyes did nothing to move either him or the Tempest’s medical officer. “It’s just a little heat exhaustion!”

“Ryder, you nearly passed out.” Lexi turned to Reyes. “Do you see why we had to stop here? You’re the only one she listens to.” Reyes snorted, looking disbelieving.

 _Okay, maybe fighting an Architect on foot in full armor on Elaaden wasn’t a great idea_. Not that Ryder would admit it. “SAM will sort it, right, SAM?” 

“I recommend complying with Dr T’Perro,” the AI said through the medbay’s speakers. “I have mitigated the worst of the effects but rest will aid your recovery.”

“Traitor,” Ryder muttered, kicking her feet. 

Reyes stepped forward and levered her to her feet. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get you to bed.” 

“You are all traitors!” Ryder shouted. 

“Didn’t bother me when I left the Nexus and funnily enough, it still doesn't bother me,” Reyes said. The doors to her quarters slid open and he nudged her toward the bed. The movement made her head spin and she caught herself with one hand before lowering the rest of the way down.

Reyes cocked an eyebrow at her. His jaw was tight and a hint of the Charlatan peeked through. _Shit. If he’s that worried I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t tie me to the bed_. 

Inspiration struck. 

“I suppose I could have a little rest…” she said, unsnapping a vambrace and dropping the armor to the floor with a sweet smile. “But only if I had a personal nurse to see to my recovery. Help me with a cold shower and all that. You know, to bring my core temp down some more.” 

“That can be arranged,” Reyes said. His smile had a bit too much tooth in it and Ryder had a feeling this plan was going to backfire. 

He knelt to pull the sabatons from her feet, moving up to her greaves, and then the cuisses. Each piece was removed with far more delicacy than armor required and the hint of a smile on his lips told her he had a plan. 

When her hardsuit lay in pieces he motioned her to turn around. His lips followed the trail of the zipper down her back as the bodysuit peeled away. Ryder cleared her throat and shifted, realising that she probably stank after fighting in the hot sun, but Reyes didn’t seem to mind. 

The suit fell away and he scooped her up. _Good thing the crew is on shore leave_ , she thought, biting her tongue at the thought of the five steps between her quarters and the shower. This was part of his game and she would match him move for move. 

Or so she thought. The water wasn’t quite ice cold when he stood her under the showerhead and turned it on, but it was cold enough. “Reyes!” she yelped, trying to get past him. 

He chuckled. “Oh, no. You stay in there. Core temp, remember?” 

Ryder stood where she was, scowling under the spray. _Play along_ , she reminded herself. The cool water wasn’t that bad. She pumped some soap into her hand and lathered it, ignoring him in favour of getting the dust and sweat cleaned off. 

The sound of his trousers opening and dropping made her turn. Reyes grinned when her jaw dropped. “What? You don’t expect me to stand here watching you rub yourself and not do the same, do you?” 

_Play. The. Game_. The internal reminder was harder to listen to this time, but she slowed the movement of her hands. “Mmm...perfect,” he said. Ryder couldn’t help staring at the sight of him pumping his cock in his fist. He wasn’t bothering to hide his open admiration for her, eyes hungry as they swept from her thighs to her hips, up to her breasts, her lips. 

_Fuck the game_. “Get in here.” 

“No.” 

_No?_

“You can’t do anything that will raise your body temperature.” Reyes grinned. “I’d offer to scrub your back, but you’ve already done that part.” 

“You are the worst. Nurse. Ever.” 

“That’s because I’m really a smuggler.” He didn’t stop the steady movement of his hand.

Ryder growled and finished scrubbing, then started to wash the soap off, determined to finish before he did. The small hitch in his breath told her she’d failed and she turned in time to see the first spurt of cum. More followed, joining the soap suds in a swirl around the drain as he groaned. 

“You’re going to make that up to me later,” Ryder said. The dampness between her thighs had nothing to do with the water.

Reyes leaned in to steal a kiss, dancing back with a laugh when she tried to pull him in. “Only if you’re a good patient.”


	4. Undress with Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill from Tumblr. Ryder challenges Reyes after losing a deal to the Charlatan.

“If you’re so good with your mouth, _Shena_ , why don’t you undress me with your teeth?” Ryder snapped. 

Reyes laughed, bit his tongue at the angry lift to her brows, and then couldn’t hold it in anymore. She had reason to be cross; the Charlatan had just outbid the Nexus on a sweet deal with the Angara, and Tann had given her hell for it. “I think I can manage that, too,” he said with a saucy grin. 

Her mouth opened, then she paused. Blinked. “Go on, then.” She cocked a hip and an eyebrow, sass and doubt personified, apparently having forgotten that all she was wearing to begin with was one of his t-shirts and a pair of lacy panties. At his evaluating stare, she looked down at herself. “Shit. This doesn’t count. I’m getting my trou-” 

“Oh, no you don’t.” Reyes lunged and caught her around the waist. “You said undress you with my teeth, I’m going to undress you. You never said how much undressing to do.” He wrestled her off her feet and into the bedroom. Ryder was breathless from laughing struggles as he dumped her on the bed and pinned her down. “Lay still.” 

She stuck her tongue out at him but obeyed, and he gripped his wrists behind his back to prove he’d play fair, too. A shiver ran over her as he brushed her lips with his, then trailed kisses down her neck. When he got to her breasts, he paused to breathe over her nipples and nip them through the fabric. Her low hum of pleasure prompted him to make his way lower and mouth her pussy through her panties. 

Reyes dragged his teeth lightly over her clit, pulling a gasp from her. When he moved to kiss her inner thigh, Ryder said, “I thought you were undressing me.” 

“You have somewhere better to be, Pathfinder?” he teased, licking along the lacy edge of her underwear. She groaned and squirmed. When she’d settled, he kissed his way to the hem of the t-shirt. 

_This is the hard part_. Arms behind his back and the softness of the bed made balance difficult, but he took the shirt in his teeth and tugged it up with painful slowness. Though it was done out of necessity, the pace and the little nips he made at her skin as he went had her panting. 

“Fuck this,” Ryder muttered when he paused to suck a nipple. She grabbed the shirt and with a lift of her shoulders, yanked it off and threw it across the room. He stopped her grab for her pants with a well-aimed nip at her hand. “Ah!” he scolded. “This was _your_ challenge. Lay back.” 

“Reyes!” she whined, slamming a fist into the bedsheets.

He sat back on his heels as much as he could with her legs between his and waited, allowing a hint of the Charlatan to slip into his gaze. Ryder scowled but subsided. Reyes rolled his shoulder before shifting back down, taking his time as he made his way back to her hips. Again he teased her through the fabric, taking advantage of the thin barrier to use breath and tongue and lips to make her cry out. 

The panties were easier to get off; there was less to them. He wasn’t gentle as he dragged them down and red marks decorated her thighs by the time he knelt with the lace dangling from his bared teeth. With a toss of his head, they joined her shirt on the floor. “There. Undressed with my teeth.” Releasing his grip on his wrists, Reyes slid backward off the bed. 

“Where are you going?” Ryder demanded.

“You said undress you. You didn’t say anything about anything else.” 

Her eyes widening with shock and her blatant look at the erection pressing against his trousers made him laugh. 

“Reyes Vidal, if you don’t get back here and fuck me _right now_ -”

“You’ll what?” 

“I’ll...I’ll fuck _you_!” 

He let her catch him, let her pull him to the floor and tug his trousers off. Laid back to savour the soft warmth of her lips around his cock as she bobbed once, twice, and then straddled him. Gripped her hips to thrust up into the heat of her pussy. 

Ryder arched back, pinching her nipples and letting him take control. He knew she was close when she groaned and leaned forward to kiss him, swiveling her hips to grind harder against him. 

Their rhythm broke when she shuddered and came undone. Reyes cupped the back of her head to hold her close, waiting until she’d finished to redouble his upward drive into her core. Her shouted grunts spurred him to his climax and he groaned her name as his balls tightened, triggering his release. 

She looked down at him, sweat beading on her brow, and smiled. “I might lose deals to the Charlatan more often if that’s my compensation.”


	5. Guilty Pleasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr ask. Set after [Pocket Aces](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553570/chapters/25947588).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My [gameverse Reyes is an established exhibitionist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249622/chapters/25381260), so this prompt fit best here :)

When Ryder had admitted voyeurism as a guilty but as-yet-unfulfilled pleasure, she hadn’t expected Reyes to invite her to indulge in it. 

“Next time you come to Kadara, see if you can sneak up on me.” 

Ryder had kissed him, goosebumps racing down her arms. Reyes was a hard one to approach without his knowing, but she was up for the challenge. More important, he knew what she wanted and she had his consent to spy on him. 

He’d know she’d arrived in port; the Charlatan was aware of everything that happened in his domain. The trick was timing. She checked in with Keema and ran some errands before heading up to their flat. When SAM confirmed when he was in the bathroom, she slipped in. The closet by the door was her best bet.

Reyes ate dinner while she waited, then pushed back from the table. Ryder watched as he undid his trousers and lifted his hips to slide them down before slouching in the chair. He fondled his balls idly before grunting and running his hand up and down his stiffening cock. 

Each pump of his fist got him harder. His breath quickened and Ryder recognised his rising orgasm in the tensing of his muscles. She licked her lips, wanting to see him come.

“I know you’re there, Pathfinder.” 

Ryder’s breath caught as Reyes lazily tilted his head in her direction. Getting caught had never occurred to her and the fact that he knew she’d been watching sent a spike of adrenaline through her. Face him, or stay here and hide?

Swallowing hard, she eased out of the closet, cheeks burning. 

“There you are,” Reyes purred. “Come here.” 

Ryder slunk toward him. When she was close enough, he caught her by the waist and reached up to pull her down for a kiss with the other hand before saying, “Don’t be embarrassed. You know I enjoy an audience. I just enjoy you more.” 

Deft fingers opened her trousers and yanked them down. Ryder finished pushing them off with her feet, excitement rising, and Reyes pulled her onto his lap. Without a word, he positioned himself and thrust upward. Ryder arched back and cried out, then gripped his shoulders and ground down hard. 

Reyes’ groan was accompanied by a hand snaking up into her hair to pull her head back. “I’m already close and if you keep going like that, you won’t have a turn.” He nipped her throat and snaked a hand under her shirt to pinch a nipple. 

A feral grin split Ryder’s face. “I’ll race you.” She rose up and sank back down, grinding against him every time her hips met his. 

“Ryder,” he said, lips curling in a snarl as his head fell back. “Fuck.” 

She managed a few more thrusts against him before he grabbed her waist and held her in place. Ryder kept swiveling her hips as his cock throbbed inside her. Her climax started as his ended. She bit his shoulder and sucked hard, marking him as she shuddered in his embrace.

“Don’t be guilty about this particular pleasure. I’m always happy to have an audience, especially if it’s you,” Reyes said when she slumped against him. 

Ryder kissed his cheek in acknowledgment, already thinking of the next opportunity.


	6. Knife to Her Throat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set early in Reyes and Ryder's relationship (between Looking for Trouble and Whiskey & Secrets). Ryder has had enough of everything and just wants some quiet in one of the Charlatan's safehouses while he's away.

Ryder cracked the trap on the door, then the heavily encrypted lock. It opened, its silent slide incongruous with the battered exterior. Reyes kept his safehouses in good condition with no creaks or scrapes to draw attention to late night arrivals. 

She darted inside, let it shut behind her, and paused to let her eyes adjust. “Pathfinder,” SAM said on their private channel, “there is -”

Cold metal pressed against her throat as a strong arm trapped her arms to her sides and spun her to push her front against the door. “Don’t. Move,” the Charlatan said in an emotionless voice. Ryder froze, blindsided by the flash of desire sparked by the keen edge of the knife, the icy tone, and the press of his body. 

“I don’t know how you got in, but you’ll leave with an extra smile after I’ve found out who sent you.” 

“It’s me,” Ryder choked out, heart racing. His threat was intended to terrify and it worked, dizzying her as SAM tried to optimize the chemicals flooding her body. She alone knew exactly how dangerous he was. Reyes’ nose brushed along her neck in the dark, inhaling deeply, and the knife fell away. 

“Shit, Ryder, I nearly killed you. What are you -” 

She turned and reached for him, finding his bare chest and hopping to wrap her legs around his waist. With her blood on fire like this, she needed an outlet. 

The Charlatan grunted and caught her reflexively, still gripping the knife. It knicked her ribs before he dropped it, the bite of metal drawing a hiss but spiking her need for him. 

He backed up until his heels thudded against the low platform his mattress rested on. The Charlatan lowered them, muscles straining to manage her weight and his. Once seated, he rotated them in a smooth movement, pinning her beneath him. Sure hands stripped her clothes away without any need for light or sight. Lips pressed against hers. A strong grip crossed her wrists, forced them overhead, and held them firm against the pillow. 

Ryder’s hips bucked as Reyes devoured her mouth, the length of his erection nestled between them. He shifted and bit one nipple, rolling the other between rough fingers. She gasped and her back arched as sensation flared, racing from her breasts to her pussy.

“I need you,” she groaned. “Please, Reyes, I’m sorry for sneaking in, I didn’t know you were -” 

He kissed her again, swallowing her pleas as he lined up his cock and slid into her in one smooth motion. Ryder broke the kiss to bite his shoulder. He nipped her neck and thrust hard, breaking her hold as she threw her head back in ecstasy.

The Charlatan was never gentle and breaking into one of his safehouses did nothing to change that. Every time Ryder started to fight him, the Charlatan ground her wrists down and fucked her harder. It was what Ryder wanted; she kept struggling, kept goading him to greater force until she was held completely immobile as he drove into her. 

Every stroke hit the nerves clustered inside her. They weren’t Ryder and Reyes; they were the Pathfinder and the Charlatan, striving to dominate each other. She could have triumphed had she used SAM, but that wasn’t the spirit of their match. She’d broken in, and he was taking his due. That it turned her on was a quirk of their connection, something to explore later. 

“Reyes -” she panted as his cock brushed her g-spot again. He freed her wrists to push up into a kneeling position and grasp her hips with both hands. Her legs fell over his shoulders and his pace slowed, but his accuracy increased. Ryder let the Charlatan have her. Nobody on the Nexus ever need know that their saviour belonged to him. 

Her cunt clenched around the cock piercing her; her body welcomed every sensation his had to offer. His hand closed on the sides of her throat as he continued with precision strokes. Louder cries clawed their way from Ryder until the Charlatan’s palm covered her mouth and muffled them. His hips crashed against hers and held as he groaned. 

“Next time, just knock,” he murmured into her hair when they lay tangled in each others’ arms. 

“Would have done, but Kian said you were in Sulfur Springs and I couldn’t stand the idea of the Tempest,” Ryder said, tired and enjoying the throb between her legs. A small shift of her hips turned her to bring her lips to his; the slight tilt of his head completed the kiss. 

_There’s something here for us…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Come say hi on Tumblr](https://makocartwheels.tumblr.com/)!


	7. Self Control (Kadara)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryder makes a visit to Kadara and settles ownership of the planet with the Charlatan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains smut.
> 
> Prompt fill for oceaneyes000 on Tumblr, for day 13 of N7 Month ("Kadara"). Thank you!

The Tempest touched down on Kadara. Ryder clutched the railing wrapping around the captain’s post on the bridge, rocking easily in her boots as the ship settled in its bay. She breathed deep, dropping her head as she gave the rail one more firm clench. Held the breath. Exhaled. 

“Everything okay, Pathfinder?”

“Just fine, Suvi. Just fine.”

Ryder stretched, locking her fingers overhead and reaching for the ceiling as she ignored the concerned and confused looks from both Suvi and Kallo. 

“Are we...is there going to be a battle?” Kallo asked, recognizing her pre-fight limber.

“Not really. No.” Ryder released her fingers and stretched to the sides, then behind her, relishing the supple strength in her arms before turning to stride from the bridge. 

“Call Vetra,” Kallo hissed.

“Belay that,” Ryder snapped without turning around. “Mind the ship. Or hadn’t you noticed the limp in the starboard engine?”

Kallo grumbled behind her and she ignored it. Her bones were too heavy and her skin stretched too tight; she itched and her blood burned. Only one thing affected her so physically as to make her that bitchy with her crew and ready to take on the entirety of Kadara Port alone. 

Well. Not a thing. A person. 

Reyes Vidal. 

The smuggler awaited her in the next bay over, slapping a wrench against his hand as he eyed the Tempest. Ryder glanced at the tool and sneered. He was an able mechanic. More than able. And an excellent information broker. And surpassingly good at all manner of tasks and roles. But he wasn’t any of those things, not truly. 

He was her lover, her other half, her balance, and what she wanted, what she _needed_ from him just now, was none of what was appropriate for public. 

His eyes flickered from bemused detachment to the Charlatan’s hard warning as she approached like one of Kadara’s spring storms. Ryder ignored the warning and he didn’t stop her from clenching a fist into his jacket and shoving him up against the hull of his own ship. 

“Vidal,” she snarled. The _want_ in her made it easy to be savage, to play her role, to be the Pathfinder disciplining her information broker and not a woman desperately wanting a fuck. 

The hard poke of a Sidewinder’s muzzle against her flank reminded her that he had a role to play, too. “Pathfinder,” he hissed.

For a series of heartbeats, Ryder forgot everything. Kadara’s summer heat faded away until only the warmth in her core touched her. The buzzing in her ears and the thud of her heart in her veins overrode the thrum of ship engines and machinery.

“Not. Here,” the Charlatan panted. The crack in his voice broke through and she caught the sweat on his brow, the tightness at the corners of his gorgeous golden eyes. The lapse in his iron composure excited her. He’d be dominant. Rough. Play her body like an instrument under the hands of a master. 

With a smile sharp enough to cut glass, Ryder eased back, holding her hands wide but freeing her biotics to light her fingertips in electric blue. With a mental flex, she let it spark, letting her smile go lopsided and mocking. Witnesses would see the port’s information broker in a standoff with the Pathfinder. Reyes would see a challenge.

He bowed, sweeping a hand toward the door of his ship but not lowering his eyes from hers, a gallant and a gutter fighter in one suave package. Ryder turned her back on him as she boarded, throwing his arrogance in his face. The Charlatan owned Kadara, but the Pathfinder owned Andromeda. The public needed to remember that, especially those who knew Reyes’s true position on the planet.

The door hissed shut as Reyes boarded behind her. Ryder dropped her head again and smiled, waiting. 

He was good. Better than her, probably, given his training, but she had SAM enhancing her senses and reflexes. At the end of the day it didn’t matter how one won, but only who. 

She heard the half-breath and the faint scuff that signalled his first movement. “SAM, Infiltrator mode,” she breathed as she slid away from the hand reaching for her right arm, her gun hand. Without armor she couldn’t cloak, but she could be a little faster, a little quieter, a little stronger. 

The first evasion was easy but it triggered the Charlatan into full-blown boss mode. “Don’t test me,” he said, his voice low with threat.

“Catch me if you can,” Ryder teased in a whispery, sing-song voice. His eyes flicked around the close confines of the shuttle. It wouldn’t be hard; they both knew it. The vessel would seat four, tops, and Reyes kept it packed with cargo. 

He lunged. She dodged. They stared at each other and he shook his head. “I’ll make it easy on you.”

“I don’t want it easy,” she said. 

His low, pleased chuckle tightened her belly. Distracted her. 

He reached. She slipped away--but his fingers brushed her wrist and she was trapped in the cockpit. No gun. No team. No out.

The Charlatan lounged in the doorway, an elbow propped against either side of the exit, and smirked. “What will you do now?”

Ryder settled into a ready position. Goosebumps rippled down her arms. SAM whispered calculations to her, angles and trajectories and speeds. They disappeared in a Kadaran sulphur fog as she ignored them and moved. 

Grip. Break. Evasion. Scuffle. “SAM…” Ryder growled. The almost-painful burst as the AI boosted her physical reactions too late. 

The Charlatan had her trapped. Her cheek ached where it pressed against buttons and her scalp twinged where his fingers tightened to hold her down as he stabbed at controls. The bright Kadara sun faded as he tinted the viewport. 

“What now, Pathfinder?”

The slow tease of his finger against her cheek and the whisper of his half-breathed words in her ear made Ryder try to wrench her head away. He didn’t let go; there was no sympathy between them now. 

“You win,” she whispered as she moved her ass against his crotch. She didn’t want to surrender but she wanted him more than whiskey or blood or even victory. 

His hand slid to the front of her trousers and she let him snap the button open, buzz the zipper down. Sharp tugs freed her from her trousers as she panted. 

“Tell me you want it,” he said as he pressed his cock against her. 

Ryder closed her eyes and breathed, trying to find some measure of self-control. The tip of him slipped in for the barest moment and she whined. Covering her mouth with one hand, she tried to catch the traitorous noise. The Charlatan had already heard it. 

_“Dime, mi reina. ¿Qué deseas?”_

She’d turned off Spanish in her translator, and he knew it. Frustration made Ryder buck--or try to. He held her tight, his body ready against hers, only needing the barest excuse.

With a growl of frustration, she gave it to him. “You.” 

He speared into her and she whimpered, shivering at the sensation of him filling her. This. This was what she wanted, the sensation of being complete, of not being alone in the universe. 

“Who owns Kadara?”

Ryder clenched her teeth around the response. She was the Pathfinder. Not that she’d wanted to be, but she was. She and the Charlatan were partners in all things...most of the time.

The Charlatan thrust again, harder, as he wrenched her head back by the hair. “Who.” Thrust. “Owns.” Thrust. “Kadara?”

No amount of arguing would suffice just now. The easy slide of him into her, the grip of his fingers in her hair, the press of his body against hers...this was the one person in the galaxy who could make Ryder feel this. Nobody else could offer it. Nobody else would dare. Others might make her happy, but only the Charlatan gave her peace.

“You do.”

The words, delivered on half a breath, might well have been shouted for all they give impetus to his movements. 

Within moments the Pathfinder released under the Charlatan. He swallowed her screams in a kiss as he emptied himself into her. 

When they sat slumped against the forward console, he gentled her to him, encouraging her to relax. “I might own Kadara,” he whispered, triggering new shudders, “but Kadara is just one planet in Andromeda.”

Ryder understood. He owned what she wanted, but she owned everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song for this one: ["Self Control" by Bebe Rexha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd-2-9MOO68)


	8. Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes asks Ryder for a favour on behalf of the Resistance while Ryder tries to resist him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for obvidalous on Tumblr -- and y'all should check out [her work on Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dona_Laura/pseuds/Dona_Laura) as well!
> 
> NSFW/ mild smut.

Ryder takes a long draught of her drink. She’s given up the better views at Kralla’s Song to drink in Tartarus, not for Kian’s discounts but because she can’t help tempting the smuggler renting the VIP suite. 

She closes her eyes as whiskey burns on the back of her tongue, rolling it around in her mouth before she swallows. Vidal has been at Sloane’s stocks again and Kian must like her to share the spoils. 

After a few minutes her AI sends an alert on their private channel. “Pathfinder -” 

“Shh, SAM. I know,” she murmurs, the words barely more than a suggestion on her lips. Only one person would come close enough to the Pathfinder to trigger SAM’s warning without hurling insults at her first.

When she opens her eyes they land on a trim male torso sporting a Sidewinder at the hip. Ryder leans back, tilting her head to take in the rest of the man in front of her, and something low in her body clenches tight. 

“Dangerous place to allow someone to sneak up on you like this,” Reyes says, arching an eyebrow as he crosses his arms and cocks a hip. He’s sex incarnate, he knows it, and he plays it for every gram of influence he can get away with. 

“Who says you snuck up on me?” She taps the side of her head to remind him of the ever-present AI and is rewarded with a flicker of annoyance, a crack in his perfect façade. Grinning, she says, “How can I help, Vidal?”

As though she hadn’t come here seeking _him_ out. 

“Since you ask…” he lifts both eyebrows, a question, a suggestion. She nods at the bench, an invitation he didn’t really need. 

He slides onto the bench next to her, too close to be casual, not nearly close enough for her desires. Ryder resists the urge to scoot closer. He’d let her straddle him, claim him, here, in front of everyone. She’s sure of it. 

Not just let her, but revel in it. Their night on the shipping containers after Sloane’s party and all they’d done afterward told her that. But that was for private. In public, the name of the game was resistance.

Tension crackles in every brush of his thigh against hers, the brush of the tip of his pinky against her hand as he set his glass down too close, the tickle of his lips against her ear as he tells her about Evfra’s latest request. He pulls out all the stops trying to break her. She watches him out of the corner of her eye and smiles half a smile, the Cheshire Cat blended with Mona Lisa. 

“I could use your...particular talents on this job,” Reyes says. “If you’re still interested in supporting the Resistance, that is.” 

“Evfra’s a pain in my ass,” Ryder replies, taking another sip of whiskey and tilting her head back again, as though she doesn’t care. “And I’ve got the krogan back on board. You think the angara top the krogan in a war?” She can’t dismiss the Resistance that easily. They both know it. They both play the game.

“I think you’ll need all the help you can get if you want Andromeda free of the kett.” His voice shivers through her, silver tongue and crimson desire and the memory of golden eyes watching her come combining to make her breath catch. “Including mine.”

“As if you’d say no to me.” Ryder tilts her head in his direction, fixing him with a look that’s serious only on the surface. Under it, beneath her skin, her blood rushes in a riot of uncertainty. Everything is still so new with him and she’s sure he has another angle. The power of an alliance with her is her only leverage just now; he doesn’t give a shit for the Initiative.

“I don’t know...Evfra’s a difficult client. I have to keep him happy.”

“Like I said, a pain in my ass. Does he know you think of him as a client, rather than a boss?”

“I’m sure my secrets are safe with you.”

_But is my heart safe with you?_

Kian is giving them a knowing look from behind the bar. “Maybe we can take your negotiations on behalf of the Resistance somewhere...quieter.” He follows her gaze to the bartender, who quickly returns to pretending to be busy.

“ _My_ negotiations? Hmm.” He runs a lock of her hair through his fingers, flicking them to send strands of blue flying when she doesn’t react. “Well. I do have a private room for a reason.” Ryder snatches the bottle and follows him up the stairs, enjoying the view. 

Better than the view is the way he pins her against the door the moment it shuts behind them and kisses her. “You can play hard to get all you want, Ryder,” he says when they break. “I remember you singing a different song on your last visit.” He pulls back, uncertainty and hesitation replacing his earlier confidence. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?” 

She laughs, relieved that he’s as caught up in this as she is and appreciating that he stopped to confirm her interest. “After the other night, I think resistance is futile.” Leaning toward his ear, she whispers, “Don’t worry. I want you.”

His answer is a searing kiss as he pins her wrists overhead. Despite what she said, she fights him, struggles to free herself from his grip. He presses harder, claims her mouth, claims her. Ryder could break free whenever she wants -- she’s a biotic, he’s not -- but she enjoys this. Revels in letting him have control, allowing him to take what he wants...what they want.

With a shift of his grip, she’s trapped in one of his hands as the other dips to the waist of her trousers, teasing before he goes for the button. Reyes has to let her go shortly thereafter, to get the rest of her clothes off, and she takes advantage of the opportunity to strip him of his. From there it’s his hands cupping her jaw, her fingers stroking his cock, their tongues dancing as much as their words had before. 

He takes Ryder there against the door, slipping his hands under her thighs and lifting her with one good heave. She catches herself with legs wrapped around his hips, holds tight as he slips into her. 

The rest of the galaxy doesn’t matter when they’re together. The Initiative can go to hell and all the people making little requests they could surely fulfill themselves can burn along with it. Nothing else matters in Reyes’s embrace. There’s only the smoothness of his hair between her fingers as she tugs it, the solidness of his muscled body as it moves against hers. The ecstasy of him inside her, his lips and teeth working her neck and nipples. 

She climaxes faster than she’d intended. _Resistance is futile, indeed_. The thought flits through her mind as she cries out her release. Reyes takes his cue to find his own before bringing them carefully to the floor, cradling her atop him to spare her from the chill metal. 

“So...have I convinced you to help with the Resistance?” he says after a few minutes. Ryder had forgotten Evfra and everyone else, lost in the beat of his heart in his chest. 

“You drive a hard bargain,” she says, amused by her own double entendre. “I suppose I’ll go see what he wants.”


End file.
